Wisteria

“ Cramped we are to such an extent that I often feel thankful for the paling that runs along the edge and keeps us all in. I suppose nobody ever believed that his lot gave him proper scope for his activities in this world, but I can [16] testify that the wisteria which twines over the paling is pushing a middle-aged hibiscus bush down the khud, while I, sitting here, elbow them both, and a honeysuckle, climbing up from below has to cling with both hands to hold on. If I invite a friend to take a walk in my garden I must go in front declaiming and he must come behind assenting ”

“ The wistaria was tumbling over itself in its excess of life, its prodigality of flowering; and where the pergola ended the sun blazed on scarlet geraniums, bushes of them, and nasturtiums in great heaps, and marigolds so brilliant that they seemed to be burning, and red and pink snapdragons, all outdoing each other in bright, fierce colour. The ground behind these flaming things dropped away in terraces to the sea, each terrace a little orchard, where among the olives grew vines on trellises, and fig-trees, and peach-trees, and cherry-trees. ”

“ The Clematis requires only ordinary garden soil. Where there are severe winters it is best to give the young plants at least some protection. They can be propagated by layering, which is rather a slow method, or rapidly by seed.
WISTARIA.
Very beautiful among the hard-wooded Climbers, is the Chinese Wistaria when in bloom. Its long, pendulous racemes of blue flowers are exceedingly graceful. They are frequently twelve inches in length and highly fragrant. The flowers appear about the last of May and first of June. ”

“ The phases of awakening spring in the garden seemed to be an endless source of pleasure to the girl; she would sit for hours looking at the pale lilac-tinted wistaria clusters hanging over the naked wall and [Pg 465] watching plundering bumble-bees scrambling from blossom to blossom.
And when at the base of the wall, the spiked buds of silvery-grey iris unfolded, and their delicate fragrance filled the air, the exquisite mingling of the two odours and the two shades of mauve thrilled her as no perfume, no colour had ever affected her. ”

“ Why not use it for honey-boxes?
Fig. 76.—American Wistaria. MAY PLANTS.
In May we have the grand sugar maple, Acer saccharinum (Fig, 73) , incomparable for beauty, also all our various fruit trees, peach, cherry, plum, apple, etc., in fact all the Rosaceæ family. Our beautiful American Wistaria, Wistaria frutescens (Fig, 76) , the very ornamental climber, or the still more lovely Chinese Wistaria, Wistaria sinensis (Fig, 77) , which has longer racemes than the native, and often blossoms twice in the season. These are the woody twiners for the apiarist. ”

“ The wistaria is 387 another sacred flower. Girls and women dress themselves in their best kimonos and fasten on their back their richest obi, all taking keen delight in parading under the bowers of flowering trees and vines. ”

“ The heavy dark-green doors of the gate stand hospitably open, and show the straight, narrow drive, bordered with roses, geraniums, and jasmine, and leading down to a square garden-court, not large but full of flowers and crooked old olive trees, over which wistaria has been trained from one to the other, so that in spring they are a mass of delicate bloom and fragrance. ”

“ Wistaria vines, thick, gnarled, and lichen-covered with the growth of years, hang in giant festoons from the trees, roll in curves and loops over the ground, and, climbing to the top of the tallest pines, hang their clusters of pale-green leaves like blossoms against the dark evergreens. ”

“ The blue sky with its round clouds shed a brightness over everything; the ailanthus had put on a tinge of yellow-green, the hyacinths were budding, the magnolia flowers looked more than ever like rosettes carved in alabaster. Soon the wistaria would bloom, then the horse-chestnut; but not for her. Between her eyes and them a barrier of brick and mortar would swiftly rise; presently even the spire would disappear, and all her radiant world be blotted out. Mrs. Manstey sent away untouched the dinner-tray brought to her that evening. ”

“ It is hardy after it gets strong, but young plants need some protection.
The Chinese White Wistaria was introduced by Mr. Fortune, and is regarded as a great acquisition. The Double Purple is illustrated in Ellwanger & Barry's Catalogue, by a full page engraving, which gives one an idea of its beauty better than the description which is as follows: "A rare and charming variety, with perfectly double flowers, deeper in color than the single, and with racemes of remarkable length. The plant is perfectly hardy, resembling Wistaria Sinensis, so well known as one of our best climbing plants. ”

“ Everywhere are remnants of Box hedges. One unkempt dooryard of an old Dutch farm-house was glorified with a broad double row of yellow Lily at least sixty feet in length. Everywhere is Wistaria, on porches, fences, houses, and trees; the abundant Dogwood trees are often overgrown with Wistaria. The most exquisite sight of the floral year was the largest Dogwood tree I have ever seen, radiant with starry white bloom, and hung to the tip of every white-flowered branch with the drooping amethystine racemes of Wistaria of equal luxuriance. ”

“ At the exhibitions early in the year it always attracts more attention than any other shrub [Pg 282] grown in a greenhouse; the soft lilac colouring of the flowers is very beautiful against the tender green of the expanding leaves. The best and general way is to grow it as a standard, as the racemes hang down in graceful profusion. W. sinensis is the Wistaria planted so freely against houses and pergolas, and for flowering under glass the variety alba may be mentioned; it is more satisfactory than in the open garden. ”

“ W. sinensis, the mauve-flowered species, is the one usually planted. The variety alba is less robust, and does not flower so freely; it wants a warm place. The double variety is very beautiful when in perfection, but our experience is that it never flowers freely, and the raceme is often poor. W. multijuga has very long racemes, and is the Wistaria which gives so much beauty to the gardens in Japan. It is always a pleasure in Wistaria time to visit the Royal Gardens, Kew, and see the exquisitely coloured trails of flowers on this species; these trails measure between 2 and 3 feet in length. ”

“ That first week the wistaria began to fade, and the flowers of the Judas-tree and peach-trees fell off and carpeted the ground with rose-colour. Then all the freesias disappeared, and the irises grew scarce. And then, while these were clearing themselves away, the double banksia roses came out, and the big summer roses suddenly flaunted gorgeously on the walls and trellises. Fortune’s Yellow was one of them; a very beautiful rose. Presently the tamarisk and the daphnes were at their best, and the lilies at their tallest. ”

“ For in such the viscera are more sanguineous, and of greater bulk in proportion to the body, than at any later period of life, it being in the earliest stage of formation that the nature of the material and its abundance are most conspicuous. ”

“ Can we consider the sting of the wasp or of the bee as perfect, which, when used against many attacking animals, cannot be withdrawn, owing to the backward serratures, and so inevitably causes the death of the insect by tearing out its viscera? ”

“ W. multijuga, which has racemes of great length, may also be tried, but W. sinensis is as charming as any, and the most likely to give satisfaction. Wistarias transplant badly, hence in nurseries are usually kept in pots; therefore, for flowering under glass, permanent pot culture is the proper treatment. To obtain standards train up a single shoot till the required height is reached, then stop it, and encourage the formation of branches. When the head has reached flowering size, after the flowers are over, spur the shoots back to good eyes to keep the growth fairly compact. ”

“ The great pests of a garden are wasps, which destroy all the finer fruits just as they are coming into perfection. In 1781 we had none; in 1783 there were myriads; which would have devoured all the produce of my garden, had not we set the boys to take the nests, and caught thousands with hazel twigs tipped with bird-lime: we have since employed the boys to take and destroy the large breeding wasps in the spring. ”

“ That bees and many other insects visit flowers for the sake of the nectar and pollen has been known to men from very early times. But this fact by itself would only explain why adaptations to flower-visiting have taken place in these insects to enable them, for instance, to reach the nectar out of deep corolla-tubes, or to load themselves with a great quantity of pollen, and to carry it to their hives, as happens in the case of the bees. But what causes the plants to produce nectar, and offer it to the insects, since it is of no use to themselves? ”

“ If out of a batch, there should be but few males; the wisps with the females tied to them are exposed outside at night; and the males thrown away in the neighborhood, find their way to them. These wisps are hung upon a string tied across the roof, to keep them from vermin. ”

“ Honey, the nectar of the flowers, the sole diet of the Bee-tribe in both its forms and the sole resource of the Wasp in her a adult form, is to the larvae of the latter an object of insurmountable repugnance and probably a toxic dish. Even the transformation of the nymphosis surprises me less than this inversion of the appetite. What happens in the insect's stomach to make the adult seek passionately what the youngster refused lest it should die? ”

“ But the figwort has found out gradually through the ages that wasps are more serviceable in the cross-fertilization of its flowers than other insects, and it has thus gradually modified its shape, odor, and nectar especially to these insects.
Let us then take a careful look at these queer little homely flowers, and for the time being consider them as mere devices—first, to insure the visit of an insect, and second, to make that insect the bearer of the pollen from one blossom to the stigma of another. ”

“ While this is going on, more and more cells are being built inside, until at last five or six large combs of cells fill the inside of the nest. The queen wasp lays an egg in each cell as it is formed; and the worker wasps gather food and nurse the young grubs until they become perfect wasps.
“By and by some young queens, or female wasps, are 66 hatched out. These lay eggs, and soon the population the paper nest numbers many thousands.”
“And that is why the gardener kills every wasp he sees in spring time,” said Frank.
“Every wasp we see in spring,” said Uncle George, “is a queen wasp. ”

“ This pollen, transferred by contact from the body of the wasp to the receptive stigmas of the flowers in the Smyrna figs, effects the fertilization of the ovules of those flowers and causes them to form seeds and mature the fruit of which they are a part. These seeds impart a nutty aroma and flavor to the fig when dried, and give it a marked superiority to our common figs. Caprification is not yet practiced in the United States, the wasp not existing here, though both it and some of the Smyrna figs have been brought to this country several times. ”

“ After the seventh day, if the viscera be inflamed, we are to soothe them by cataplasms of linseed and raw barley-flour in oil and water. We are then to apply dry cupping or cupping with scarifications to the parts, and to the back part of the head and the spine. But, if the body be observed to be very squalid and hot, even if the fever remain, we must use baths of fresh water, and plentiful anointing, and give some thin and weak wine, in order to rouse the strength; we need not apprehend any mental alienation that will thereby be produced ”

“ There is one example, epipactis latifolia, with a cup-shaped labellum, in which honey is secreted, and which bees are never seen to frequent. What, however, the bees pass, the [Pg 178] wasps suck eagerly, and by them it is fertilized. Of this flower, Mr. Darwin says,—"It is very remarkable that the sweet nectar of this epipactis should not be attractive to any kind of bee. If wasps were to become extinct in any district, so probably would the Epipactis Latifolia." ”

“ Disposal of viscera is often a problem. Arrangements should be made to have a local processor or rendering plant pick it up. If this is not possible, it should be buried so that dogs and other animals cannot dig it up. ”

“ The eggs laid after the first three days, are said to produce weak worms. The wisps are taken out morning and evening, and exposed to the sun, and in ten days after being laid, a few of them are hatched. The wisps being then hung up to the tree, the young worms find their way to the leaves. The ant, whose bite is fatal to the worm in its early stages, is destroyed by rubbing the trunk of the tree with molasses, and tying dead fish and toads to it, to [Pg 129] attract these rapacious insects in large numbers, when they are destroyed with fire ”

“ The Internal Organs, or Viscera (Figs. 304 and 305) .—The viscera (vis’se-ra) , as in most vertebrates, include the food tube and its glands; the lungs, the heart, and the larger blood vessels; the kidneys and bladder and the reproductive organs. The lower part, or gullet, is enlarged into a crop. It is largest in grain-eating birds. It is found in the V-shaped depression at the angle of the wishbone, just before the food tube enters the thorax. The food is stored and softened in the crop. From the crop the food passes at intervals into the glandular stomach. ”